3. Be a saint.

At the end of the second chapter of “Christus Vivit,” Pope Francis offers a litany of young saints that young people should emulate and request the intercession of today. He mentions St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Blessed Chiara Badano, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, St. Dominic Savio and St. Kateri Tekawitha, among others. These are great saints for young people and all Christians to befriend today and ask for their intercession for the youth of the world.

We should especially ask these saints to help us to become saints ourselves. At the end of his litany, Pope Francis writes, “May these and so many other young people who perhaps in silence and hiddenness lived the Gospel to the full, intercede for the Church, so that she may be full of joyous, courageous and committed young people who can offer the world new testimonies of holiness” (63).

We live in a time that needs saints more than ever. There are many challenges of our times in and outside of the Church — but these crises can only be addressed by living out a holy life. Now is the time to be holy: We cannot put this on our “someday, maybe” list. Holiness cannot wait. God created each of us to be fully alive in Him.

As Pope Francis said, “The very first words, then, that I would like to say to every young Christian are these: Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive!” (1).